


Shadow

by SEMellark



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Deaf!Hinata, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, blind!kageyama, just pain basically
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-27
Updated: 2015-11-27
Packaged: 2018-05-03 16:00:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,385
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5297450
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SEMellark/pseuds/SEMellark
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This is what Hinata does, coercing others, even without words, into realizing things about themselves that they’d previously ignored. Tobio’s always been helpless against him, and that, at least, hasn’t changed.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Shadow

**Author's Note:**

> Companion piece to "Echo," but you don't really need to read that first to understand this one. Might up the pain factor though!
> 
> I wasn't even going to make Kageyama blind until a friend of mine suggested the idea and ruined my life in the process. So, blame her.

The doorknob turns, and Tobio sits perfectly still in his bed, listening for the telltale greeting the nurses often give him, but there’s only silence. And for someone who has come to rely solely on his sense of hearing to observe his surroundings, this disturbs Tobio greatly.

For a moment, he’s convinced someone has broken into his room to murder him. Or it could be Tsukishima, just being his usual asshole self. But then Tobio hears it, the quiet lilt of his mother’s voice, the rustle of clothing, the door closing as quickly as it had opened, and he relaxes.

Footsteps draw closer, never faltering, and Tobio feels a feather light touch on the back of his wrist before he’s even processed what a lack of a verbal greeting could mean.

Tobio wants to rip his hand away but can’t muster the courage to actually do it. “Hinata… “

There’s nothing either of them can say. Hinata can’t, and Tobio just won’t. All he can think to do is apologize for not calling Hinata himself, but his partner would undoubtedly _not_ appreciate that right now.

Hinata’s fingertips tremble as they wander, brushing over the bruised skin of Tobio’s knuckles and lingering there. The injuries don’t hurt anymore, but Tobio doesn’t think he’d notice even if they did.

He can feel Hinata’s body heat, and it’s odd, because this isn’t the first time someone has stood so close to him, but it’s the first time Tobio is actually taking note of it.

“How did you know?” Tobio murmurs, lips barely moving. There’s no way to tell if Hinata’s looking at him or not, so he could just be speaking to the air, to this dark room.

But Hinata taps the back of his wrist once, twice, just as he does when there’s a message he needs to communicate on the court without having to sign it, and Tobio turns his hand, exposing his palm.

Hinata moves his finger carefully, slower than he usually does. _‘Kei.’_

Tobio should’ve known. “That bastard.”

Hinata pinches him before writing, ‘ _Bastard is you.’_

Well, that’s refreshing, at the very least. Everyone’s been treating him like porcelain since the accident, never antagonizing him, never mentioning anything related to…

Anyway. No one pushes him, aside from Tsukishima and, now, Hinata. So it isn’t really a surprise that Tsukishima contacted Hinata on his vacation when Tobio had explicitly told everyone _not_ to do so. The real shock is that Hinata actually came back, and this quickly.

_'What happened?’_

“What, Kei didn’t tell you?” Tobio huffs, earning himself another pinch. “My dad and I, there was this… we were driving to Tokyo to get Mom something for her birthday and – “ He doesn’t really remember what happened. Things do come to him, sometimes, the grind of metal, his father’s arm shooting out in an attempt to protect him. “I woke up here and everything was just… dark.”

_‘Dad okay?’_

“Yeah. His collarbone was broken, and he swallowed some glass, but he’s fine.”

Hinata makes an odd humming sound, and Tobio frowns, because that could mean anything. This is the most frustrated he’s been with his lack of sight since waking up. Being unable to gauge how Hinata’s feeling right now is killing him. Tobio hopes Hinata doesn’t pity him. And he _prays_ that he isn’t disappointed.

Tobio’s chest tightens, heart thundering under the weight of this issue, more relevant now that Hinata is here. He’s refused to talk about it so far, won’t even _think_ about it, not when his mother tentatively pressed him, and not when Tsukishima had asked when he’d be back.

Because there is no going back, is there, if his detached retinas can’t be fixed. Everything is going to have to change, and since Tobio had only just started to get used to things as they were, the idea is unbearable.

But this is what Hinata does, coercing others, even without words, into realizing things about themselves that they’d previously ignored. Tobio’s always been helpless against him, and that, at least, hasn’t changed.

There’s something being pushed into the hand Hinata isn’t using as a notebook, and Tobio rubs the material between his thumb and forefinger, notes the softness, the lack of friction. A tissue.

Tobio doesn’t say thank you. He crushes the tissue between his shaking fingers and beats down on the bed with his fist, just once. He hasn’t cried in front of Hinata in a long time, not since back in their first year when they lost against Seijou.

Hinata’s writing again, and Tobio focuses mainly out of a sense of obligation to his partner. _‘It will be okay.’_

He jerks his hand away, shutting himself off from anything else Hinata might want to say to him, pressing his forearm against his eyes – damaged, _useless_ – to hide the tears still building.

“Tobio.” Hinata speaks, the sound practiced and clear. It’s the only word he ever says with any confidence. “ _Tobio.”_

Tobio shakes his head, mentally begging _please, don’t do this to me._ “I can’t play volleyball like this, Shouyou.” It’s the first time he’s said it out loud, past the suffocating weight that’s always settled in his chest. He can’t recall ever feeling this devastated about anything before. “And if they can’t fix it, I’ll never play again.”

It feels like he’s been waiting to say this, waiting for _Hinata_ , the only person who could truly grasp how bittersweet the aftermath of the crash was, with Tobio’s sight taken instead of his life.

“I won’t be able to talk to you ever again, not like before.” Tobio chokes out. He’s pretty sure he can still sign without watching what he’s doing, but there’s no point, not when he can’t see Hinata’s responses.

To be cut off from each other like this, after what they shared before… it’s absolute torture.

Hinata pulls his arm back down, refusing to let Tobio hide away. _‘I will practice.’_ He writes, sloppy and desperate, and Tobio struggles to keep up. ‘ _Talking.’_

Tobio is shaking his head before he’s completely processed what Hinata is trying to tell him. “Don’t do that for me.” He knows how Hinata feels about speaking, how uncomfortable it makes him. Tobio would never forgive himself if Hinata stepped out of his comfort zone like that for his sake.

“I will!” Hinata shouts, and it doesn’t seem to be just his usual lack of volume control at work. Tobio turns his head towards the sound and damn near sees a phantom image of Hinata’s face, twisted with determination. “I’ll do it. And you… can’t stop me.”

This is the most Tobio has ever heard of Hinata’s voice. And he would take a page from Hinata’s book and watch his lips as they moved, if only he could. “I have to.” Hinata continues, brushing his fingers over Tobio’s bruised knuckles once more. “I won’t… let you do… this again.”

“Do _what?_ ”

“You know.”

Tobio _does_ know, is all too aware of how things have been since he woke up in this hospital, sightless and aching all over. He’s gotten used to that feeling again, of darkness, of isolation, being cut off from those around him through no fault but his own.

And it’s not as if things have gone back to the way they were before. Tobio’s teammates visit all the time, delaying the start of practice and ending later in the evening than normal just to see him. Sawamura, Sugawara, and Azumane came back from university as soon as they heard, and even Iwaizumi stopped by, dragging along an oddly subdued Oikawa.

Tobio just… couldn’t connect with anyone as he had before. He hadn’t wanted to feel better, just planned to stew in his bitterness and fear at possibly never playing volleyball again. So, he’d shot everyone down when they offered to contact Hinata, the only person with a long record of pulling him out of these slumps.

But now Hinata is here, holding his hand, and Tobio never wants him to leave.

Hinata carefully turns his hand over, mumbling, “Tobio, Tobio _,”_ even as he writes, _‘You were my voice. So let me be your eyes.’_

Tobio doesn’t even know why he’d thought things would change between them. He’s never needed to see or hear Hinata to know that he was there.


End file.
